Every day we carry out small expenses that are barely perceptible to our pocket but whose sum represents an important part of our total monthly or annual expenses. These "small" expenses are known as Ant Expenses and are one of the greatest enemies of the family economy.
Acts such as buying a coffee or a pack of cigarettes, leaving a tip in a restaurant or subscribing to a magazine are an example of this type of expense. The outlay they require is not important, although most of the time it is unnecessary. They are not easy to identify, but it is important to do them to control them and not have to ask ourselves at the end of the month: How have I spent all this money?
What are the ant expenses?
Ant expenses are small expenses that, when added, produce a great impact on our finances. unconscious leaks of small amounts of money that can eat up your monthly budget. They are usually closely linked to our daily habits and vary with them, so detecting them is not always easy.
A coffee does not hurt your pocket, but a daily coffee can mean an extra € 40 in our monthly budget. Buying the newspaper, getting a candy bar or soda from a vending machine, or tipping at a restaurant are other typical examples of ant spending.
are mostly unnecessary outlays to which we do not give importance but who undoubtedly have it. Studies indicate that all these small amounts represent approximately 115 euros per month, more than 5% of an average salary. A total of 1.337 euros per year
How do we identify them?
review our daily routine It helps us to identify this type of expense that is not recorded in the movements of our credit card. Writing down each purchase or minimum expense that we make for a month will help us shed clarity. We can do it in a traditional way by carrying a notebook with us always or use the new technologies. To do this, downloading an expense / finance management application such as Monefy, Money Lover, Fintonic or Toshl Finanzas.
By making numbers of what each small expense supposes in the monthly calculation, we can become aware of the impact that means for our finances in a longer period of time and take action on it.
How do we control them?
Once identified, we can determine which of them give us greater satisfaction, which are unnecessary and which we could do without. Studying the monthly income and expenses, we will also determine what the budget could be for this type of expense, to avoid that they get out of control.
An effective way to help us change our habits can be collect in a piggy bank every day the coins that we would have allocated to these ant expenses during the day. At the end of the month, opening the piggy bank, we will be much more aware of the savings that it has meant.
Give it a purpose the money that we are going to save can also help us make sense of this challenge. Assuming that all the family's needs are covered, we can consider doing some family activity if we can reduce these unnecessary expenses.
In addition, it will be necessary continue scoring for a time each expense. Only then will we be able to identify new ant expenses and observe the ability to save; what amounts have been saved by controlling small expenses.